Australia/New Zealand Loan House

In a subdued and challenging market, ANZ distinguished itself with a diverse range of deals underpinned by a superior distribution network in the Asia Pacific region. In Australia, the bank led 26 transactions across property, infrastructure, industrials, resources and leverage sectors, eight of which were on a sole basis.

“We had a strong year particularly in our home market of Australia and New Zealand, demonstrating a great variety of transactions,” said Christina Tonkin, ANZ’s head of loans and specialised finance.

ANZ was a close third in the bookrunner table of all Australian loans during the review period, with little to choose between the top four. The breadth of its sales platform, however, set ANZ apart from the pack, allowing clients access to critical liquidity in Asia.

The bank underwrote a A$372m (US$277m) loan to fund Blackstone Group’s 50% acquisition of a commercial building in Melbourne from Brookfield Property Partners, its first syndicated loan for the private equity giant in Australia. The facility resulted in ANZ securing a second mandate from the US sponsor for an A$432m M&A loan to acquire a portfolio of industrial sites from Goodman Group.

ANZ has 37 dedicated syndication loan bankers in Australia, New Zealand, North, South and South-East Asia, London and New York. It is the only Australian major lender with syndications teams in Beijing, Taipei, Tokyo, Jakarta and India.

“We continue to take customers to Asia in primary syndication and increasingly in the secondary phase,” said Robin Dutta, head of loan syndications for Australia.

The bank’s focus on longstanding clients also paid dividends in 2016. It secured its sixth mandate from the property developer Far East Consortium, a ninth mandate for casino operator Crown Group and an 11th from Village Roadshow.

The property market was a highlight, underscored by a A$1.05bn five-year loan for Walker Corporation, one of the largest commercial property deals in Australia. ANZ, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, underwrote the deal, which refinanced existing debt and recapitalised the firm’s Collins Square project in Melbourne’s Docklands. The syndication strategy targeted 30 financiers with 19 committing to the deal, 18 of whom were new lenders to Walker. The final book was more than twice oversubscribed.

The bank also underwrote on a sole basis a US$600m subordinated facility to fund French oil and gas firm Total’s shareholder contribution to liquefied natural gas project Ichthys LNG. That loan was the largest to be underwritten by a single bank in 2013.

In New Zealand, ANZ was the undisputed leader with a 25.7% market share.